Writing for the Web: Why be present on Internet?

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In the first article of this series on Writing for the Web, we already hinted what we intend to discuss this time around. We already mentioned why it is important to tell our story, but let us repeat it. First of all, there is that human need to tell the other what we have done, what happened to us. Second, more important in this so-called information age that we live in, it is important for the other people to learn what we did since, as we noted, what is not mentioned in the media as if never happened at all.

Now, why is it important to be present on the internet? First of all, because starting and publishing one’s own newspaper, radio station, to say nothing of television, is a rather “expensive sport”. Also, in our societies, or in contemporary societies, superficial as they are, the media are reflection of society and are increasingly oriented towards entertainment, tabloid and scandalous “infotainment” contents, showing little, if any, interest for the work and activities of civil society organisations, with the exception of truly great protest actions.

So, it is not very likely to expect from traditional media to express interest in activities of nongovernmental organisations and civic associations. That is especially the case with activities of small NGOs that already work in “unattractive” fields, say, the rights of persons with disabilities which traditional media have been known to remember only on a given day in the year that the United Nations decided to dedicate to a given group.

That gap, that void in their communication with the general public that results from the limited interest of traditional media in activities that are not “high level” politics, crime beat and gossip and scandal involving the rich and famous, can be easily bridged by the civic associations and organisations through use of opportunities offered by the internet.

Of course, internet in itself is nothing more than a mere tool and all benefit that we can take from it depends solely on ourselves and the way we use it. A rather small investment, little good will and dedicated work and the presence on the internet and use of internet to inform the public can bring more visibility to civic associations than they ever hoped. The first step towards success is to identify one’s goals, and that is what we intend to discuss in the next instalment.